1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to washing machines and more particularly to an improved water supply safety valve system.
2. Prior Art
Every year the insurance industry, as well as consumers, spend hundreds of millions of dollars repairing damage caused by ruptured or leaking washing machine water supply lines. These machines often are located in areas not frequently attended and thus the problem of a broken line can go unnoticed for considerable periods of time. There are other appliances that require water supplies for example a dishwasher to which the invention is applicable but the water leakage problem is less likely because of being located in a high traffic area and thus early detection unless of course the occupants are absent for long periods of time.
Water supply line shut off valves known to employ conventional control devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,263 granted Jul. 21, 1998 to G. Isacson Jr; U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,715 granted Oct. 22, 1996 to H. Griffin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,175 granted Apr. 2, 1996 to P. Ravilious; U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,037 granted Apr. 25, 1995 to J. Wheeler; U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,224 granted Mar. 19, 1991 to W. Olsen Jr; U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,049 granted Oct. 31, 1989 to P. Formasaari; U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,534 granted Mar. 31, 1987 to S. Chung-Shan; U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,435 granted May 20, 1986 to D. Aldrich; U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,190 granted Apr. 29, 1975 to G. Boss; U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,403 granted Apr. 1, 1975 to W. Fischer; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,199 granted Nov. 26, 1974 to A. Stone.
The foregoing references, along with the references listed as having been cited against the same, gives some indication of the numerous proposals made to solve the potential flooding problem.
The majority of the foregoing patented devices are fairly sophisticated devices that are complex and thus expensive to manufacture and/or require specialized installers. One of the simpler devices from an installation point of view is disclosed in the above patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,199 in that the automatic shut off unit is simply attached to the water supply faucet and the appliance hose is then connected to such unit. Internally the device has slidable pistons requiring accuracy in manufacturing and thus is somewhat costly from that point of view.
The foregoing patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,403 utilizes two solenoid operated valves i.e. one for cold water and one for hot water but they are mounted on a common housing and thus if one fails the entire unit must be replaced rather than just the faulty solenoid valve.
Moreover, because there are numerous washer installations that have never had a problem and therefore there is a reluctance to install flood preventing devices unless they are relatively inexpensive to buy, simple to install and easily and inexpensively repaired should that become necessary.
These prior art devices typically provide a supply of water to the appliance whereby once the washer or other appliance is activated the shut-off valve remains open for the entire duration of the wash cycle or use cycle. Contrary to the teachings of the prior art, the instant invention controls the flow of water to the appliance, whereby the timer starts over with each cycle, for instance a washer typically may use two (2) eight minute cycles, thereby preventing a flood in case the hose line to the appliance is damaged during the fill cycle.